Evening all. Here we go again with another round of University Challenge. After four matches interesting in one way or another, what would Week 5 have in store?
St Peter's College Oxford is one of the newest Oxford college, founded in 1929 as a hall, and becoming a college properly in 1961; it was men only until 1979. Alumni include Mark Carney, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and the Rev W. Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. This year is the first of the revival the college has got a team on to the show; they were:
John Armitage, from Lancaster, studying Maths
Ed Roberts, from London, studying History
Captain: Gabriel Trueblood, from London, studying Medicine
Spike Smith, from Maidenhead, studying Maths
Sussex University was one of the plate glass unis founded in the '60s; its alumni include Ian McEwan, Peter Hain MP, Bob Mortimer and Frankie Boyle. The university won UC twice back in its early days of the '60s; it last sent a team back in 2009-10, where they lost in the first round. This year's quartet were:
Tom Whitehurst, from Rhyl in North Wales, studying Cognitive Neuroscience
David Spence, from Leicester, studying Scientific Computation
Captain: Joss MacDonald, from Romsey in Hampshire, studying History and Politics
Matthew Dean, from Birmingham, studying Philosophy
Off we went then, and St Peter's got off the mark first, and took all three bonuses. Sussex responded by taking the next two starters, and half the bonuses that came with them. The sides split the first four starters and twelve bonuses equally, getting two and three each respectively. The first picture round, on places in northern England notable for confectionary manufacture, went to Sussex, and gave them a lead of 55-35.
St Peter's were soon hot on their heels though, and had soon captured the lead. The side appeared to be struggling somewhat with the bonuses, but if you're quicker on the buzzer, that only half matters. Paxo was maybe a bit harsh to disallow Sussex's answer of 'chemical elements' when he was after 'the periodic table', which St Peter's promptly took for the points.
The music round, on classical pieces with millions of YouTube viewings (yes, really), went to St Peter's, who took all three bonuses and upped their lead to 115-55. By this stage, Gabriel Trueblood had built up a head of steam on the buzzer, as he seemed to be getting almost all the starters thrown at him, including a very quick interruption which Paxo seemed taken aback by! He also took the points after Sussex unluckily slipped up by not quite getting an answer out right. The side soon made up for that though, getting back into the game for the first time for a while.
Neither side got the second picture starter, and Mr Trueblood was unlucky to slip up on the next starter, falling for a swerve; Sussex took the points and the second picture bonuses, on famous Glaswegians. The Oxford side's lead now stood at 155-90, and was falling as Sussex began to fight back into the game and into three figures.
Mr Trueblood took another starter, just to make sure that his side were safe. Sussex were now playing for a place in the repechage, and were making good progress towards that sort of score. The sides swapped starters for the final minutes, and at the gong, St Peter's won by 205-150.
Very well done to St Peter's, Mr Trueblood in particular, on a very good first outing, and we shall wait and see how they fare next time. Bad luck to Sussex, but a fair performance nonetheless, and 150 will be borderline for the repechage IMO. We shall have to wait and see.
Mr Trueblood's superb buzzer showing saw him finish the match with eleven(!) starters to his name; great stuff that. David Spence was Sussex's best buzzer with four. On the bonuses, St Peter's converted 16 out of 38, and Sussex 15 out of 24, and both sides incurred one penalty.
Next week's match: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine vs the London School of Economics
May not be able to review next week's match until Friday, so there may be a bit of a wait next week; we shall see.
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